Praised for her “full-bodied, rich and warm tone” (Cleveland.com), Cleveland-based violinist and educator Ann Yu leads a diverse freelance career that spans multiple genres and musical styles in both historical and modern performance. Inspired by her faith and surroundings, her collaborative spirit has led her to unique projects with Apollo’s Fire, Project: Music Heals Us, Cleveland Scoring, CLE Concierto, and the Resonance Project, where she serves as a board member.

An avid chamber musician, she is a founding member of the Poiema Trio and Mirum Quartet and makes frequent appearances at the Caroga Lake Music Festival. Notable collaborators include Janine Jansen, Jaap ter Linden, Frank Cohen, Sterling Elliot, and members of the Dover, Verona, Cavani, and KASA string quartets. She credits much of her chamber music education from her experiences at the Thy Festival, Perlman Music Program, Kneisel Hall, and Credo Festival. 

A passionate educator, Yu is on faculty at chamber music schools Credo Festival, Chamber Music Connection, At First Sight, Agnew Performance Academy, and Lakewood Chamber Music Collective, and maintains a private studio of violin and viola students who have served in principal positions in the Akron Youth Symphony and Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra.

Outside of classical music, she has shared the stage with Cory Wong, Cody Fry, Kishi Bashi, the War and Treaty, the Huntertones, and Eddie Barbash, and enjoys jamming with local bluegrass, old time, and jazz musicians. 

Yu received her Bachelors and Masters degrees at the Cleveland Institute of Music’s Five-year Program, where she was the winner of the 26th Annual Darius Milhaud Competition and Concerto Competition and recipient of the Fortnightly Musical Award. She studied violin with Jaime Laredo, Jan Sloman, and William Preucil and chamber music with Peter Salaff, the Cavani Quartet, and Frank Cohen. She is currently studying baroque violin with Alan Choo as a Young Artist Fellow with Apollo's Fire. 

Outside of music, Yu is active in her local community supporting vintage shops and farmers markets, volunteering with lindy hop and blues dance organizations, participating in faith-based forums, and exploring the many surrounding parks of Northeast Ohio.